A Good Doctor

By Eva Fischer-Dixon

Everyone who knew Ilana Portman was certain that someday the young girl would grow up to be a popular cardiologist and pulmonary specialist. Seeing her ailing grandmother, Ilana became ever so determined to fulfill her destiny to become a doctor, so she pursued her goal with a vengeance. Finishing school years ahead of her peers, she became a doctor barely out of her teen years. After several personal tragedies in her life, the heiress of one of the largest businesses in the USA found herself alone.

Abigail (Abby) Page, a fellow medical student, entered Ilanas life at a vulnerable time, and she welcomed her new friend not only emotionally but also allowing her to move in with her. A short time later, Abby introduced a young man, Manfred Man Griffin, to Ilana. He was also a medical student whom Abby grew up with in Germantown, Pennsylvania; the three of them became close friends.

Discovering a betrayal, Ilana moves to Washington, DC, to try to start a new life until Manfred reenters her life. Just as she thinks that she has finally found happiness, her newest discovery of a potentially deadly betrayal forces her to come up with a dangerous plan that could cost her her own life. If she succeeds, it would give her the ultimate revenge.

Is she willing to risk her careermoreover, her own lifeto fulfill her plan of revenge, or will she forgive those who know no mercy when it comes to ruin or even taking her life? That question cannot be answered lightly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543466232

Eva Fischer-Dixon

I came into this troubled world during the early morning hours of June 17, 1950, in the city of Budapest, Hungary. I was the first and last child of my 41-year-old mother and my father who was 45 years old at the time of my birth. As I did not know any better, I could not possibly understand that we were living in poverty, as I was growing up with loving parents and there was always a bite to eat. My childhood was poor and saddened with tragedies. As a six-year-old child I witnessed the bloody 1956 revolution and received the first taste of true prejudice by those of whom I thought liked us, yet turned against my family. That tragedy did not match the untimely death of my beloved father when I was not yet seven years old, on February 14, 1957. My mother remarried in 1959 and our financial situation was upgraded from poverty to poor. After finishing elementary school I made a decision to earn money as soon as possible to ease our financial situation and I enrolled in a two-year business college (high school diploma was not required). I received my Associate Degree in 1966 and I began to work as a 16-year-old certified secretary/bookkeeper. During the same period I began my high-school education, which I completed while working full-time and attending night school. I discovered my love for writing when I was 11 years old after a movie that my childhood friend and I saw in the movie theater. We were not pleased with the ending and Steven suggested that I should write a different ending that we both liked. Voila, a writer was born. With my family’s encouragement, I entered a writing contest given by a youth oriented magazine and to my genuine surprise, I won second price. My desire to live in a free country and to improve my life was so great, that in 1972, leaving everything, including my aging parents behind, I managed to escape from Hungary during a tour to Austria, (then) Yugoslavia and Italy. I spent almost nine long months in a rat infested refugee camp, located Capua, Italy, while I waited for official permission to immigrate to the country of my dreams, to the USA. In 1975 I met and married a wonderful man, my husband Guy. Thanks to his everlasting patience, he assisted me in my task of learning the English language. He is truly my partner for life and I remain forever grateful to him for standing by me in some tough times. It is difficult for me to describe my love for writing. I cannot think of a bigger emotional joy for an author than to see a published novel in somebody’s hand and to see a story come alive on the screen. I yearn to experience that joy.

Book preview

Prologue

S IDNEY PORTMAN HAD a big secret that he would not share with anyone. During his years at his dream college, the West Point Military Academy in New York, nobody knew that he was not like everyone else at the school, although without a doubt there were a few dozen cadets who were raised in wealthy families. He just happened to be the son of Hershel Portman, the oilman who by age 25 made an obscene amount of money during the early 1900’s when oil was discovered in the fine State of Texas.

He requested from his parents, when they informed him that indeed they would be there for his graduation that they should play down their visit because nobody knew about their social status. His father replied to him over the phone. Why, are you ashamed of us? When the stunned Sidney did not reply, he burst into laughter and told him not to worry he understood what he meant. They drove to West Point in a taxicab instead of a limousine and joined other parents who were present at the graduation ceremony and the parade.

Hershel was more than just proud of his son; he was also very worried too, as was his wife. Among many important dates in his life, such as his marriage to Esther, the birth dates of his two sons, Jamie and Sidney, there were three more dates that he would recall every so often. The first date was December 6, 1941, when Jamie called from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where he was a Navy Lieutenant who was anxiously waiting to be deployed into the thick of the actions. Jamie wanted to talk to everybody, his father, mother, his younger brother and even his nanny, who remained at their household as a housekeeper after the boys grew up. He talked the longest with Sidney and he continued telling him that he should visit him in Hawaii because the girls were exceptionally beautiful. He told Jamie that it was sheer luck that West Point let him go home for 3 days; he seriously doubted if he could get away anymore during his first year at the military academy.

The second date Hershel was never going to forget was hearing the news on the radio, a day after his son’s phone call that Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese Imperial Forces and ships were lost with the men inside them. The third date was the most memorable for Hershel Portman, it was that telegram which confirmed that Lieutenant Portman was on the board of USS Arizona when the ship received four direct hits and burst into flames when one of those Japanese bombs and torpedoes hit the magazine area.

Of course, their only remaining son was also anxious to go into fighting, if for no other reason but to revenge his brother’s death, and also for all the others who perished under horrible circumstances. Hershel secretly hoped that by the time Sidney finished at West Point, in 1944, the war would be over. Little that he knew, that for that exact reason, having fighting going on in different fronts, such as in Africa and on the European continent, also a short time later in the Pacific as well, meant large number of military personnel was needed more than ever. It was only a matter of time before the Allied Forces would land somewhere that was kept in deep secret.

His heart sunk when Sidney called again to inform them they were told that their classes were accelerated because there was a need for their services in the war efforts, therefore, they were going to graduate in 1943 instead of 1944, a full year earlier than they anticipated.

While the cadets expressed joy and excitement about the unusual change of events, their parents were less than thrilled, obviously many of them had secret hopes just like Hershel and Esther for their son. So there they were, watching their son, an honor student, in the rank of Brigade Commander or First Captain, a title that was earned solely with his hard work, led his fellow graduating cadets on the graduation march.

The Portman Family

T HE PORTMAN FAMILY was known in all business circles, especially Sidney’s grandfather, William Portman who made his own fortune in the fur trade in the Yukon Territory of Canada. He topped that with more animal massacres on various Indian territories. The latter fact was not something Sidney’s family ever talked about, especially because they were ashamed of how the Indians were treated by his men.

His grandfather frequently told them that while he was hunting for buffalos and bison along side with his men, not once did he permit his men to harm any Indians who tried to stop them. Of course, there were circumstances that they had no choice but to defend themselves from Indian attacks. It was either they died or the Indians died. The choice was rather clear to him and to his companions. The memories of those days lived vividly in Sidney’s grandfather’s mind, so much so, that while he was dying in bed in the comfort of his own home, he called his family to his bedside and told them that he regretted all the killings of innocent people who only tried to defend what was theirs. He hoped that God will forgive him for those deeds, and then he slowly slipped away.

William Portman was once married to a lovely woman by the name Ruth Stein, daughter of a wealthy grocery and clothing storeowner. It was an arranged marriage by a professional Jewish matchmaker, but William could not have been happier than he was with the lovely Ruth. They fell in love right away and a couple of years later, their son, Hershel was born. He would be their only child because Ruth died giving birth to him William had never married again. When he was asked why he did not remarry, he replied that he would never get as lucky as he was the first time and he did not want to try to love another woman when he was still love with his beloved late wife, Ruth.

Since Hershel came relatively late into his father’s life, he was pretty much raised by a nanny and was home schooled. His father loved him, he said so to him several times, unfortunately he was unable to show the young Hershel the physical aspect of it, such as hugging, not even a kiss on his forehead. After he took the final test to receive his high school diploma, his father told him during their nightly dinner, good job my boy and that was it. Hershel knew that other kids got some sort of reward, like a fashionable Model-T, which was the talk of the town, or for example an around the world vacation, or only in Europe, but not him.

His nanny, Mrs. Hartman loved Hershel as if he was her own, although she had six children whom she already raised to adulthood. It was her who mentioned to the newly graduated Hershel that he should have gotten something from his father as a graduation present. She mentioned that day in and out, so much so that Hershel had to ask her to stop, promptly hurting her feelings in the process. To Mrs. Hartman’s credit, the seed was planted and it began to bother Hershel about his father’s non-caring attitude toward him. He never took him anywhere, never gave him anything and he did not even share any stories of his life with him.

It took Hershel four years to finish his college education and he returned home right after graduation. He ever so patiently waited for an opportunity to address those questions from long ago to his father, well, more like he waited until he got brave enough to ask him. It happened one night when his father was in an exceptionally bad mood, and while Hershel knew that it was not going to help his situation, he also knew that at times a bad mood could be useful to speak the truth.

Father, I have some questions that I meant ask you for some time now. Do you have a few more minutes for me? Hershel asked. His father put down his glass of water and stared at his direction from the head of the table.

Ask, if you must, he motioned with his hand. Tell me all of your questions all at once and I will answer them in the order you asked them. Hershel cleared his voice and looked his father in the eyes as he spoke.

"I was wondering why you never show me love. You never hugged me, never gave me a fatherly kiss. Secondly, you never give me things, anything really. All of my friends whom you allowed to have got some sort of graduation present, all I got is a good job my boy comment from you. Thirdly, you never take me on any of your business trips so I could learn a thing or two as to how you are conducting successful meetings. Fourthly, you never told me anything about yourself. I often wonder if you are hiding something from me. Lastly, you never talk about my mother." Hershel spoke loud enough but still with respect.

His father stared at him for a long moment and then waved him toward the living room where he took his usual seat in a plush armchair with an ottoman. After the housekeeper brought them their coffee; William Portman placed his coffee cup back on the saucer and looked at his son.

All right, he began. Why don’t I show you physical love? My answer is simple and yet complicated. My father was the same way with me as was his father before him. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you. Son, I love you more than anything in this world but I just can’t keep on hugging you or kissing you, it is just not in my nature. He assured Hershel.

So you say I never gave you things, he shook his head. I don’t understand what did you mean by that. Don’t you have a nice home to live in, nice clothes to wear everyday? Did you ever go to bed hungry? Didn’t you have all the toys you have ever wanted to play with while you were a child? You don’t think that giving you life was enough? How about when I die? You will get everything that your grandfather and I have worked for. Does that amount to anything? He asked Hershel. He cast down his eyes because he realized that his father made some valid points that he stupidly didn’t think about.

You know the reason why I never take you on business trips? I don’t do that because of safety reasons. I could never live with myself if something happened to you on one of those business trips. You will have more time to learn about my business when you finish college. He stopped and sipped from his coffee that the maid warned up by adding to the already cooling cup.

Then you said that I never talk to you about my past, William Portman said and stared at the table in front of him. Son, have you ever looked into the eyes of an animal you were about slaughter? My heart broke each and every time a great creature like a buffalo or bison was killed. I did many of the killings myself for one simple reason, to profit from their skin that the industrial world wanted and needed. I could wake up at any moment from sleep and smell the blood and guts as we skinned those animals that we almost killed into extinction. How could I talk to you about my past when it includes the memories of going through Indian villages where the murdered bodies of the old, women and children were everywhere, slaughtered worse than animals, women raped and children almost cut in half. Should I tell you the stories that I witnessed when you were just a baby, or should I wait until you all grown up and have a better understanding of those days when Indian lives meant nothing to the white men? That is what I was hiding from you. William took a deep breath and wiped his face as if there was something on it.

About your mother, Ruth. She was the love of my life, the only woman I have ever truly loved, other than my own mother. She was kind and understanding, and those nights when I woke up drenched in perspiration from a nightmare, she soothed my skin with cool clothes until I was able to fall asleep again. It was not unusual in those years that a woman died at childbirth, but still, you don’t think about that when you are having a child that was considered a gift from God. We believed in God and when you were born she held you in her arms, and then; they could not stop the bleeding. She just slipped away while she was still holding you. She had a beautiful smile on her face and your face was the last face that she saw. He stopped and looked at Hershel who just sat there, stunned and touched by his father’s words.

I am very sorry father for the way I ambushed you with my questions, Hershel apologized to his father. It’s just I am anxious to go out into the world an earn my own money. To do that I need a foundation from which I would repay later and I would go from there. He tried to explain.

The answer was simple and most unexpected. William Portman authorized his bank to transfer over to his son’s account that Hershel did not even know that existed, one million dollars for his own personal use. When a day after their questions and answer session, William handed over a bank statement to his son, he promptly dropped it to the floor from surprise.

Just out of curiosity, what are you going to do with your foundation? He asked Hershel. I am just asking, not going to criticize or anything like that. He added.

I am thinking about investing in oil. One of my men who is also working for the Geological Survey Company, perhaps unintentionally but he discovered oil on a ranch in Texas. Now that I have money, I could buy out the farmer and invest in setting up oil rigs. He told his plans to his father. To his surprise, William actually liked that idea.

Back in the earlier days, Sidney’s family, his father Hershel, his mother Esther and his three year older brother Jamie lived in their parents’ luxurious mansion in St. Petersburg, Florida, but that is all what the two boys got, an extremely comfortable living accommodations. If they wanted to have money to spend, they had to do chores just like any kids of their age. They did not mind. Their parents never lectured them about how they got everything when the world was at war, despite their surroundings; the Portman Family actually lived quite modestly.

While others in their position, meaning money, had a house full of servants; the Portman’s had a housekeeper, a kosher cook and a maid. Well, perhaps the occasional gardener and the person who cleaned their Olympic size pool as needed. Sidney always thought that he could not ask for a more perfect family until December 8, 1941, when they got confirmation that his brother Jamie went down with his ship in Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on the Hawaiian Naval Base. When he thought about Jamie afterward, Sidney recalled how his older brother wanted to talk to everyone in the family, even their old nanny, on the night before, as if he was saying goodbye to them.

Hershel read the telegram out loud in front of the staff, and of course Esther. Tears came as naturally as